The invention relates to toy water guns, and more particularly to such water guns having multiple nozzles for discharging water, and water guns in which nozzles are adapted to discharge in directions other than forward.
Water guns are well known in which a plunger or trigger is employed to force or release water through an internal passage leading to a rotatable nozzle head having several orifices of various sizes or shapes. Thus, an operator may, in between discharges, rotate the nozzle head to align a selected orifice with the water passage, for different choices of discharge volume or spray patterns. While such designs allow many choices to be available, the configuration is not conducive to quick or repeated changes, particularly in the midst of a water battle.
U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,615,488 and 4,597,527 (both to Sands) disclose water guns in which a member of a nozzle head assembly is rotated to selectively align either a forward nozzle or a sideways directed nozzle with a main water supply passage. Additionally, a second member of the nozzle head (or the plunger handle of an alternate embodiment) may be rotated to allow flow of water from the main supply passage to a pair of rearward facing nozzles. To select a new output configuration an operator must presumably halt the process of discharging water to perform a separate nozzle selection operation. The rearward nozzles are intended to direct water at the operator of the gun, rather than at a target located behind the operator (U.S. Pat. No. 4,597,527, col. 2, lines 43–46 and col. 3, lines 22–26).
U.S. Pat. No. Re. 24,208 (Steiner), U.S. Pat. No. 2,888,172 (O'Brian), U.S. Pat. No. 3,146,911 (Shun), U.S. Pat. No. 4,492,318 (Luk), U.S. Pat. No. 5,244,153 (Kuhn et al.) and U.S. Pat. No. 5,427,320 (Mak et al.) all disclose water guns in which a movably mounted single nozzle is manipulated by the operator to point in different directions. U.S. Pat. No. 6,151,824 (Clayton) discloses a water gun in which multiple movable nozzles can simultaneously discharge in different directions.
U.S. Pat. No. 819,602 (Rupp) discloses an agricultural sprayer in which two spray heads can discharge fluid. The device does not simulate a firearm, is attached to a hose (col. 1, In. 23–25) and is carried by holding the arms 10, one in each hand (col. 2, In. 74–77). U.S. Pat. No. 979,771 (Kunzelmann) discloses a nozzle head in which a handle is employed for selecting one of three nozzles. The handle changes the orientation of the nozzles so that a selected nozzle always aims forward. U.S. Pat. No. 5,603,361 (Cuisinier) discloses a water pistol in which a second output can be selected and employed for filling a water balloon. The second output points straight down along a vertical axis with respect to the pistol. U.S. Pat. No. 5,735,440 (Regalbuto) shows a bicycle mounted squirting apparatus with multiple nozzles. The apparatus does not simulate a firearm and is not practical for use without a bicycle, upon which its major components must be separately and individually mounted.